Strong gets first crack at Florida in Sugar Bowl

December 11, 2012|Reuters

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NCAAF Team Report - Louisville - INSIDE SLANT

When Cardinals coach Charlie Strong told media on Dec. 3 at a press conference that he would discuss his job status when the time was right, many started to wonder if he wasn't already on the way to Knoxville or Fayetteville, or even Auburn.

Strong not only lived up to that promise, but another one he made to his players. That's why he turned down Tennessee and a reported $3.5 million per year offer to rebuild that downtrodden program, staying at Louisville for the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl matchup with Florida and perhaps for years beyond.

"It became clear to me that it was best to stay in Louisville," he said. "We haven't finished the job yet."

The job might be a steep one against the Gators, who appear to present a bad matchup for the Cardinals. Florida's downhill running game and physical defense might be too much for a Louisville team that couldn't consistently dominate the scrimmage line against Big East competition.

But while bitter Tennessee fans ripped Strong for using their program as leverage to gain an extension and pay raise, Strong merely remained loyal to the players he'd recruited and the athletic director who gave him his first head coaching job, years after he was ready for one.

Cards AD Tom Jurich always maintained that he would pay Strong more than any school and the third-year coach remembered that promise. He also remembered how Jurich has treated his family since arriving at Louisville in 2010.

"When they ask about your daughters, that's when you know they care more about you as a person," Strong said.

With established recruiting pipelines to south Florida -- 34 players on the Cards' roster are from there -- and one of the nation's top quarterbacks in Teddy Bridgewater, Strong has built a program that should last for the long run.

What's more, Louisville's fleeing the sinking Big East after the 2013-14 school year for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It should be in position to challenge Florida State, Clemson and Virginia Tech for championships in its new league.

"You can buy a person a lot, but you can't buy his heart," Strong said to the Louisville Courier-Journal, paraphrasing Stephen Covey. "His heart is where his enthusiasm is, where his loyalty is. My enthusiasm and heart are with the University of Louisville."

--Strong knows plenty about Florida football in more ways than one. He served as Urban Meyer's defensive coordinator in Gainesville and has also mined south Florida heavily to build Louisville into a champion.

Now his reward for earning the Big East Conference's automatic Bowl Championship Series berth? A date with Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 in New Orleans, where the Gators are expected to roll over the man who once helped them build champions.

Early betting lines had Florida as a 16-point favorite, a reflection not just of its 11-1 record while playing a Southeastern Conference schedule, but of how little respect the Cards have earned for going 10-2 in a league far inferior to the SEC.

But Louisville will have three major things in its favor at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It will have the better quarterback, the motivation from a month of being told it has no chance to win and should be a lot healthier by the time this one kicks off.

"Our numbers are way down on defense right now," defensive coordinator Vance Bedford told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "We've got to get some guys healthy again."

The 33-day break between a 20-17 win at Rutgers Nov. 29 that earned the Cards this shot at Florida won't get them Senorise Perry -- their running back who tore his ACL at Syracuse Nov. 10 -- back, but it should help a number of key defensive players to full strength.

Four linemen (DeAngelo Brown, Shelden Rankins, Jamaine Brooks, Lorenzo Mauldin) either missed the Rutgers game or played at less than 100 percent. Linebacker Daniel Brown hasn't played since September and cornerback Andrew Johnson departed the Rutgers game in the third quarter due to injury.

That forced Terell Floyd, whose injury forced Johnson into the lineup, to come back into the game. Bedford said Floyd wouldn't have returned if Johnson weren't hurt, but Floyd stuck it out and eventually iced the game with an interception in the last two minutes.

Of course, the most important injuries Louisville's overcome have been to star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. After suffering a broken wrist and sprained ankle Nov. 24 against Connecticut, Bridgewater played most of the last three quarters at Rutgers at far less than 100 percent and still threw for 263 yards, as well as two touchdown passes.

Presumably, Bridgewater will be much closer to 100 percent by the Sugar Bowl. Adrenaline, not to mention almost five weeks' worth of rest, should be powerful drugs in that regard.